Parquet flooring or paneling and method of making the same.



F. X. GANTBR.

PARQUET FLOORING OB. PANBLING AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLIGATION FILED APE.5, 1910.

3 SHEETS- Patented June 30, 1914.

MN \QM N P. X. GANTER. PARQUET FLOORING 0R PANELING AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED APR.5.1910.

Patented June 30, 19M

3 SHEETS'SHEET 2.

F. X. GANTER. PARQUET FLOORING OR PANELING AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5. 1910 Patented June 30, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

amvemtoz UNITED TATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS x. GANTEB, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

PABQUET FLOORING OR PANELING AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 5, 1910. Serial No.'553,512.

invented new and useful Improvements in- Parquet Flooring or Paneling and Methods of Makin the Same, of which the following is a speci cation. I

In laying parquet flooring it is necessary,

under present methods and with the means now in common use, to first construct an under flooring or base, then lay the par -quetry blocks thereon, and finally plane and polish the surface of the floor so produced.

This requires several separate and distinct operations as well as careful and skilled workmanshipin order to secure good results, and consequentlythe construction of such floors is costly. The appearance of the floor is also marred by the use of tacks or nails to secure the blocks to the base through warping1 of the floor from lack of uniformity in t e seasonin and unequal expansion and contraction 0 its component parts, and frequently through the inability of the workman to assemble the blocks in such manner as to present an artistic design.

One of the ob'ects of the present inven-' tion is to provi e a novel construction of 80 parquetry boards embodying in a single article both the base and the finished par uetry surface and which may be laid to orm the floor in a single operation, thus reducing the cost of laying any floor of a 85 given size to a considerable extent.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide parquetry boards of this character which may be laid to produce any given design according to an established pattern,

which will obviate the use of nails or other fastenings liable to mar the appearance of the-floor, which when laid will require little or no planing or like surface finishing and will not be liable to shinklor warp, and

which may also be used for wall and ceiling paneling.

Still another object is to provide a method of rapidly and economically producing parquetry boards embodying the aforesaid ad'- 60 vantages.

, In the acom panying drawings, illustrat ing the invention :Figure 1 is a perspective view of a parquetryboard as constructed for use. Fig.- 2 is a longitudinal'section of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are transverse sections on the lines 3-3 and 44 of Fig.

Patented June so, 1914.

1. Fig. 5 is a cross section in perspective,

showing a modification. Fi 6 is a mentary pers ective view illustrating the first step in t e method of manufacturing the boards. Fig. 7 1s a similar view showing the second ste in the method of manu-. Fig. 8 is a view show facturing the boar ing the third step of division of the stock into sections. Figs. 9, 10 .and 11 are views showlng the successive steps of treating each stock division or section.

frag- In carrying my invention into practice, I

provide a arquetry board A comprising a base 1 an a surface 2, said board being preferably of the length of an ordinary flooring board. The board is provided at one side with tongues 3 and atiitsopposite' side with grooves 4 formed in',.-the base and surface for interlpckin connection with the edges of adjacent boards in layin the floor.

The base 1 consists of a sing e piece of wood of any kind suitable for the purpose,

while the surface 2 is formed of parquetry blocks or strips arranged in abutting contact and in an suitable manner to produce a desired floor esign or surface finish. These blocks are firmly united by glue or cement 5 or other concealed fastening means to the upper surface of the base 1, and may be similarl united at their meeting edges to each ot er to render the board strong and rigid at all portions throughout its length and breadth.

In practice, the base and surface may be co-extensive in thickness, but as a general rule the base is made somewhat thicker than the surface, their relative dimensions in this particular being, however, such that the tongues and grooves may be similarly formed upon and in each element, thus adapting both the base and the par uetry face of each board to interlock wit the edges of contiguous boards of a floor to rein orce and secure a double interlocking engagement between the edges of the boards, thus obviating liability of any of the blocks being loosened or casually torn from their bases.

For the purpose of still further strengthening the connection between the base and parquetry surface, the meeting faces of these in number to the greatest number of transverse block sections or divisions at any point,

thus firmly locking all of the blocks to the base. The tongue and groove connections may be of the plain type shown in F igs. 1,

% 3 and 4, or dovetailed as shown at 6' in n the construction of a parquet floor in accordance with my invention, the boards A are laid in the usual manner of lay' an ordinary floor without a base or false ffooring beneath it, the said boards being simply tongued-and-grooved together, whereby a floor having a parquet surface will be produced. Where a very solid flooring is required, the thickness of the board may be increased and if desired the boards may be secured to the floor beams 7 by nails or other fastenings 8 driven diagonally from the ton ued side of the board down through the surface and base and into the beams, as shown in Fig. 5. As the surface 2 of each board is planed and polished by machinery in the operation of finishing the board, practically little laning or finishing of the floor surface will we required, except in instances where extreme nice'ty of finish is called for. By dispensing with the ordinary base and process of individually securing the par: quetry blocks thereto, the operation of lay ing a floor is simplified, the cost of construction considerably reduced, and marring of the parquetry surface by the use of fastenings passing downward through the face thereof obviated, while at the same time a much stronger and more durable floo is produced.

A distinct advantage arising from construction of parquetry boards of met-type described is that selected wood seasoned to the same extent may be used, and by gluing the blocks to the base and allowing the glue to properly set a practically homogeneous connection is obtained which insures the production of a flooring of greater solidity and strength than floors constructed in the usual manner with the parquetry blocks nailed to the foundation base. Furthermore, the parquetry finish of the boards may follow thedesigns of skilled artists, allowing a floor of any ornamental appearance to be laid from a pattern without dependence upon the artistic skill of the workman in forming the design in the usual way. The boards are also less liable to shrink or warp and mar the symmetry of surface and appearance of the floor. Owing to the strength of the bond between the base 1 and surface 2, the

former may be made without disadvantage of wood having knots or other imperfections rendering it unsuitable for use in an ordinary floor surface or ordinary parquetry base, with resulting econom In the method of manufiicturing a parquet ry board constructed as hereinbefore de scribed, a number of parquetry blocks, disposed to form a desired pattern, are assemled or built up upon one another and glued or otherwise suitably fastened together, as shown in Fig. 5, to produce an oblon rectangular board or block 9 of a lengt corresponding tothat of the parquetry board to be made and of a thickness to enable two or more of the parquetry surfaces 2 to be formed therefrom.

As shown in Fig. 7, base boards 10 are then glued or otherwise suitably fastened to two of the opposite faces of said block 9, and the whole allowed to dry, if glued, until the glue has thoroughly set and hardened. The multiple parquet unit thus madeis then divided longitudinally along the dotted line 11 to produce two corresponding sections 12 and 13, as shown in Fig. 8, each formed of a base board and a portion of the parquetry block. Said sections 12 and 13 will then constitute two parquet boards ready for finishing, if the parquet block employed is of a thickness for division into twoparquet faces only. If, however, for example, the block is of suitable thickness, as shown, for making four complete boards, then other base boards 14 are glued or otherwise fastened to the exposed inner faces of the respective block sections, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, forming other multiple boards of less thickness than the original board. Each of these multiple boards is then respectively sawed or otherwise longitudinally divided along the central line 15, thus producing four complete parquetry boards of the proper thickness for use, Fig.

11 showing a completed board ready for the finishing operation of tonguing, grooving and planing. Thus it will be seen that through this method of manufacture, two or more complete parquetry boards may be manufactured from a single multiple board, dependent upon the thickness of the original block 9, all of which boards will have a uniform surface pattern. Strength and durability of construction and economy of production are thus secured. It will be under stood, however, that, while this method of manufacture is preferred, the parquetry blocks may be simply glued to the individual backing to form the boards. Each completed board is finished by running it through a suitable jointing and planing machine, by which it will .he tongued and grooved and the parquetry surface simultaneously planed to the desired smoothness and polish.

The boards may be used in the construction of panels for walls and ceilings and for other analogous purposes as will be readily understood.

Having thus described the invention, I claim 1. The herein described method of making parquetry boards comprising a base and a parquetry surface fixed thereto, which consists in combining a plurality of parquetry blocks, fastening base boards to the opposite faces thereof and severing the board at a point intermediate said blocks to provide duplicate units.

2. The herein-described method of making parquetry boards comprising a base and a parquetry surface fixed thereto, which consists in forming a multiple parquetry block, fastening base boards to the opposite faces thereof, dividing the block longitudinally into sections, fastening other boards to the exposed faces of said sections, and then dividin the block divisions of each section into individual sections, each forming a board embodying a base and a parquetry surface.

3. The herein-described method of making parquetry boards comprising a base and a parquetry surface fixed thereto, which consists in assembling and permanently uniting a plurality of parquetr block sections to form a multiple block in which the block sections alternately extend longitudinally at right angles to each other, fastening base boards to the opposite faces of the multiple block, and dividing the block longitudinally into separate boards each having a base and a parquetry surface.

4. The herein-described method of making parquetry boards comprising a base and a parquetry surface fixed thereto, which consists in assembling and permanently uniting a plurality of parquetry block sections to form a multiple block in which the block sections are arranged in series alternately extending longitudinally and transversely of the multiple block, fastening base boards to the op osite faces of the multiple block, and dividing the block longitudinally into separate boards each having a base and a parquetry surface.

In testlmon whereof I aflix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

FRANCIS X. GANTER.

Witnesses:

BENNETT S. Jonas, 0. C. Hmns. 

